The Cleveland Cavaliers are 30-11, and in first place in the East, halfway through the season. But that wasn’t good enough for a team with championship aspirations. Today, the Cavs decided to part ways with David Blatt, leaving him with a 97-46 overall record as a head coach in the NBA.

Apparently the 132-98 shellacking the Cavs took on their home floor against the Golden State Warriors Monday night had more repercussions than we thought. When the Cavs were handed that embarrassing loss, it became apparent that team chemistry in the locker room, and on the floor, had to change.

The keys to the Cavaliers have now been turned over to Tyronn Lue. Lue has been the associate head coach since June of 2014. Lue was a candidate for the Cavs head coaching job when the decision was ultimately made to hire Blatt. So since LeBron’s return to Cleveland last summer, he has been to the NBA Finals, maintained the top seed in the East halfway through this season, and now had two coaches with no prior NBA head coaching experience.

I agree with the move to let Blatt go if it is apparent that he is not the man for the job, no need to wait. There must be some level of confidence in Lue by management because he was given a 3-year deal. Only time will tell if this will end up being a good move. Honestly, at this point in the season, you’re not getting a sure-fire franchise changing coach anyway, so you might as well go to someone who will at least make a difference in the locker room.

My take…

The bottom line is the Cavs have the 2nd highest payroll in NBA history and the demand to compete at the highest level is a must. That’s far from what we saw Monday night, so I applaud the Cavs organization for making the immediate move, despite grumblings from fans and NBA people who look at the 30-11 mark and think everything was OK. It wasn’t. David Blatt was never the coach for this job. He was hired before LeBron made the decision to return to Cleveland. David Blatt instantly got in over his head. The culture of the Euro leagues do not prepare you for NBA life, not to mention coaching a team with the worlds most popular player who is expected to deliver a title to his home town immediately. Now, when June comes, we’ll know a lot more about where the Cavs should turn next, when they lose to the Warriors in the NBA Finals, again.

Brandon Reid covers the NBA for MyFantasySportsTalk.com and you can follow him on Twitter @New_Breid

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The Cleveland Cavaliers are 30-11, and in first place in the East, halfway through the season. But that wasn't good enough for a team with championship aspirations. Today, the Cavs decided to part ways with David Blatt, leaving him with a 97-46 overall record as a head coach in...Brandon ReidBrandonReidbrandon.dale.reid@gmail.comEditorBrandon Reid is a TV producer and broadcaster for a community channel based in Jonesboro Arkansas. He is from Memphis and graduated from Arkansas State University with a degree in broadcast journalism. He loves the Memphis Tigers, Grizzlies, Titans and Arkansas State Red Wolves.
“I promise to bring information, insight and strong opinion...let the debate begin.”
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